by Laura Leone
“Is that how you met Mrs. Bouvier?”
He nodded. “About five years ago I was part of the undercover team assigned to protect the Montreaux diamonds. Claude, Mrs. Bouvier, her husband, and her daughter were on the scene. So was Maurice LeCoz. Hell, everybody in New Orleans high society was there.”
“I didn’t know the Montreaux diamonds had been stolen.”
“They weren’t. We caught the thief. It was a pretty confusing case, and the Montreaux family decided to keep it quiet. That was the first time Peter and I ever talked about opening our own agency. I didn’t like risking my life to protect a bunch of rocks. I wanted to help people.” He sighed dispiritedly. “I wanted to be a good guy.”
She wanted to touch him, to hold him and kiss him, but she knew they had to finish this conversation. “So that was how Maurice LeCoz knew you. But why did he come to you and Peter personally, instead of going to the big agency you used to work for?”
“He said that the fewer people who knew about it, the better.” Nick said gloomily, “I only realized later on exactly what he meant by that.”
“And you took the case.”
“Yes. And finding Mrs. LeCoz was a piece of work. She had covered her tracks pretty well for an amateur. She really didn’t want to be found. I was handling the case alone, for the most part. Until this LeCoz mess, business had been booming at the agency, and we were getting ready to hire more staff.”
“So what happened when you found her?”
“She was with a guy, all right, in some dive up in Baton Rouge.”
“Was she safe?”
“Yes. That was the problem.”
Diana frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Nick leaned on one elbow and looked out the window, remembering his own shock at the discovery. “This guy she was with wasn’t the slimy swindler LeCoz had led me to expect. He wasn’t even a gigolo or a good-looking hustler. In fact, he was soft-spoken, shy, and very attentive to Mrs. LeCoz. And she looked at me like I was a demon sent to drag her back into hell.”
“Why?”
“That was what I wanted to know,” said Nick. “I was prepared for any reaction from them, except the one I got. She cowered in terror and begged for mercy. The man kept trying to comfort her, but it didn’t have any effect. So I... Well, instead of making her leave with me or reporting to my client where they were, I sat down and asked her what the hell was going on.”
“What was going on?”
“She had run away from LeCoz because he was a sadist and a wife-beater.”
“Really?” Diana felt her stomach churn with disgust.
“Yeah. It was a long, nasty story. The abuse had begun a few months after their marriage. Her high society family wouldn’t believe it. Her doctor—LeCoz’s doctor, that is—suggested she be more understanding, and her social circle didn’t invite such ugly confidences.”
“That’s horrible, Nick!”
“I thought it was the modern age. But not for everybody, I guess.” He tilted his head to look at Diana again. “People assume it only happens among poor, illiterate folks. But it happens everywhere. A lot of people just don’t want to know about the dirt in their own backyard.”
“And she didn’t know what to do about it?”
He shook his head. “No. She was young, sheltered, lacking confidence. She’d never held a job or been away from her narrow social circle.”
“So how did she get away from LeCoz?”
“This guy she was with in Baton Rouge was their gardener. He’d helped her. He was obviously in love with her, and the two of them were broke and defenseless against the rich, powerful guy she was married to.” Nick shook his head and added huskily, “She showed me the scars she’d gotten when LeCoz...” His voice strangled on the memory.
Diana wrapped her arms around him before he could go on. “Shh. Don’t, Nick,” she soothed, aching for the pain she could feel in him.
“And that was my client,” he said. “The rotten bastard. I couldn’t turn her in to him. I couldn’t let him get away with it.”
“Of course not,” she murmured, stroking his back. “What did you do?”
“I helped them get away, taught them how to cover their tracks so well that no one but the CIA could find them. Then I came back to New Orleans and told LeCoz to go to hell.”
“So that’s why he’s suing you,” she mused. “And why no one can find Mrs. LeCoz now.”
“That’s right.” He lowered his head and rubbed his face against her belly. “And now it’s all falling to pieces. The agency, Peter’s reputation, my career. All because I just wanted to be the good guy, Diana.” His arms tightened around her. “I’m probably going to lose my license. Breach of contract, violation of ethics, professional misconduct... You name it, I’ve done it.”
“Oh, Nick.” She kissed his dark hair. “You couldn’t have done anything else. It’s your karma to be the protector. Even Felix said so. But the Knight of Swords has to do it the hard way.”
He grunted. Then he kissed her stomach, her breasts, her throat and mouth. He raised his head and looked into her eyes. His own were sad and vulnerable. “I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want to find your father for you,” he said.
She could see the self-doubt still torturing him. Now was the moment to tell him. She smiled confidently. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
Chapter Ten
THE DEVIL: TRUMP XV
Major Arcana
Meaning: Bondage to material things; misuse of power; sensation without understanding.
Reversed: The start of spiritual understanding.
“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Nick grumbled. “Sex must make my brain numb.”
“Well, we’re here now, so there’s no point in being so negative.” Diana tried to get her bearings in the middle of the filthy, crumbling sidewalk. The neighborhood, notorious for poverty and crime, had deteriorated considerably since her last visit. She glanced back nervously to where she had parked the car. Even her lavender jalopy would be a valuable prize around here.
“I don’t like the way you’re wandering around,” Nick said suspiciously. “I thought you said you knew where this Lemon person lived.”
“I do. It’s just that I’ve never been here at night before. And don’t call Jora ‘this Lemon person,’” she added uneasily.
“Why not?” Seeing her expressive look, he said, “Never mind, I don’t want to get into another argument. And will you get away from that dark alley? Here. Hold on to my arm and walk close to the streetlights.” He shook his head in disgust. “This is like going to wartime Saigon with a Girl Scout.”
Diana thought he was exaggerating, but she decided to let him grumble. Just getting him this far had been tough enough. As she studied various doorways, looking for one that seemed familiar, a carload of teenage hoodlums passed them by. Their whistles and graphic comments when they saw Diana made Nick go tense all over.
“Are we almost there?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“Um...”
“Hey, man! You! Yeah, you.”
Nick spun around to face the speaker, instinctively pushing Diana behind him. An enormous Rastafarian with an impressive head of dreadlocks studied them with a surly expression. He glanced from Nick to Diana and then back again.
“The Knight of Swords?” he demanded.
“What?” asked Nick.
“Yes,” said Diana.
The man broke into a broad grin that made him look wolfish and predatory. “Jora Lemon said to tell you she’s expecting you. Go right on up.”
“We didn’t phone ahead,” Nick muttered to Diana.
“We didn’t need to.”
They passed by Jora’s grinning gatekeeper and entered a dark, ominous-looking building. “This place can’t possibly have passed inspection,” Nick said. “Why is she living here? Can’t she have visions in a condo?”
“Stop that. Jora is Felix’s friend. She also happens to be one of the pe
ople he respects most, in this or any other dimension.”
“A glowing recommendation,” Nick said darkly.
They climbed to the top of the stairs, then walked to the end of a dark, musty-smelling hallway. When they reached Jora’s door, Diana put her hand upon the knob and waited.
“Shouldn’t you knock?” Nick prodded.
“I am knocking.”
A moment later the knob turned in her hand, and Diana pushed the door open. Nick followed her into a dim, spacious apartment. The decor was something out of a Gothic nightmare, with heavy touches of African art and voodoo paraphernalia. He saw a tiny, white-haired, old black woman sitting cross-legged on the floor before a brazier.
“Diana. You’ve brought him,” the old woman said. Her voice was low and gravelly. When she raised her head, Nick saw thick cataracts clouding the lenses of both eyes. He recalled that Diana had told him Jora Lemon was virtually blind.
“Yes, Jora. He wants to help me find Felix.” Diana added, “You know that Felix is missing?”
Jora nodded with a stately grace that the Queen of England would have envied. She patted the floor, and Diana obediently knelt beside her. Nick noticed a fat boa constrictor lying nearby and hesitated. But the impatient pleading in Diana’s eyes convinced him to kneel on the floor across from Jora.
“Jora,” Diana asked, trying to control her voice, “do you know if Felix is still alive?”
Jora took a deep breath, held it for a long moment, then let it out in an eerie hum. At last she said, “He is alive.”
“Is he hurt?” Diana asked.
“What have you brought me?” Jora inquired.
Nick thought this an inappropriate moment to ask for payment or gifts. He was about to say so, when he saw Diana pull a charred piece of paper out of her handbag—the half-burned Ten of Swords card they had found in Ishtar’s mouth after Felix’s disappearance.
Jora took the card and set it upon the live coals in the brazier, staring at it with her sightless eyes. It burned slowly and smokily. After what seemed an interminable wait, she said, “He has not been seriously harmed. Yet.”
Diana swallowed. “Do you know where he is? Can you see him?”
Jora stared more intensely at the fire. The snake started crawling slowly toward Nick. He clenched his fists and wished Jora would hurry up. He hated snakes.
When the tension was so thick that Nick could practically taste it, Jora said, “He is being kept near water.”
“Near water?” Diana repeated. “Did you hear that, Nick? He’s being kept near water!”
His eyes fixed on the snake as it slithered closer, Nick said as patiently as he could, “Diana, we’re in New Orleans. Everything is near water.”
He glanced at her. Judging by the expression on her face, he hadn’t sounded as patient as he’d intended.
“A rich man has taken him,” Jora added dreamily.
“We know that,” Nick told her.
“Nick, please,” Diana said repressively. “How do you know, Jora?”
“I see fine crystal and silver. A big house with many lights. It is very bright, even at night.”
“We’ve been there,” Nick said. “Uh, Jora, this snake doesn’t bite, does he?”
Jora cackled with what Nick considered unnecessary glee. Blind or not, she reached out and unerringly grabbed the boa constrictor with one hand. Nick watched in fascinated horror as she drew it close and cradled it in her lap.
“Felix will not approve of your bringing your gun,” Jora said.
Nick stared at her. The gun was well hidden inside his denim jacket. He decided he didn’t want to know how she knew it was there—or what else she had seen. She cackled again.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe,” she said merrily. “You have chosen a difficult path in this life, but you have the strength to follow it.” She stared again into the fire. “I can see you in the flames. Your destiny is woven into Felix and Diana’s, and you cannot change that.”
Jora grinned, and Nick saw that her teeth were surprisingly even and white. “You are a very handsome man. I can see why Diana... Oh!” She cackled again and patted Diana lightly on the leg. “Don’t worry, child. I won’t tell your father about that.”
“Jora,” Diana interrupted in embarrassment, “can you tell us anything else about where Felix is?”
“Hmm. Many people around. Many. But they don’t know he is there.”
“That’s it!” Nick snapped his fingers and sprang up. “Thank you, Jora. It’s so obvious, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.”
“You had other things on your mind,” Jora said simply.
“Come on, Diana. Let’s go get your father.”
“Where is he?” She gasped when he hauled her off the floor and dragged her to the door. “Goodbye, Jora!”
“Goodbye, Jora. It’s been fun,” Nick added.
Jora cackled once more.
They were out on the street and halfway to the car before Nick answered Diana’s repeated question about Felix’s location.
“Don’t you see?” Nick exclaimed, opening the car door and sliding inside. “He’s at Beaux Champs! Just to convince you, I’ll add that it’s near lots of water. The plantation borders the river.”
“But how do you know he’s there?”
“It’s so obvious! Why hasn’t Claude left the estate? He doesn’t need to. Felix is right there.”
“Does that mean Mrs. Bouvier is in on this?”
“No. I’ll bet she has no idea Felix is so close. Come on, start the car. Let’s go. Damn it, I wish we’d had time to go get my car.”
Diana started the sluggish engine and pulled the car into traffic. “But wouldn’t Claude be afraid of keeping Felix right there at the estate? The place has been crawling with workmen for days, and there must be hundreds of guests there right now.”
“That’s probably exactly why he brought Felix there. Claude’s the man of the family now, and with all these preparations going on, he knew he’d be expected to be on hand. He couldn’t go wandering off to deal with your father every few hours, so he had to keep him nearby. With all those workmen wandering in and out of the place, it must have been a piece of cake to sneak Felix’s unconscious body onto the grounds in a trucks or van. Claude probably bribed somebody to help him out, but he made up a story that had nothing to do with kidnapping.”
“But surely he’d want Felix far from the action, once he got him there? If Felix cried out for help, someone would be bound to hear him,” Diana reasoned.
“That place is so huge, there must be some isolated out- buildings that no one ever goes near. With a henchman or two to keep an eye on Felix and warn away intruders, Claude would have the perfect hideout for his hostage—convenient to him, guarded by high walls and electronic gates, and unsuspected by everyone. Even us.”
“Jora said he was near water,” Diana mused. “Do you think he could be in a boat house or something?”
“It’s possible. We’ll find out when we get there.”
“Nick?”
“Hmm?”
“Jora’s definitely right about one thing. Felix won’t approve of your gun.”
“Hopefully he’ll never have to know I brought one.”
“I don’t suppose you could leave it in the car?” she suggested.
“Claude’s playing for pretty high stakes, Diana. Kidnapping is a felony. We don’t know how far he’ll be willing to go. I’d rather keep my gun with me than risk something happening to you or Felix because I left it behind.” He hesitated before adding, “Just trust me.”
Diana glanced at him uneasily. The words were an uncomfortable echo of the night he had left her alone in the House of Ishtar—the night before she’d found out that trusting him had been a mistake. That was behind them now. She had forgiven him. But she felt a strange chill of superstition, all the same.
Nick saw how uncomfortable Diana looked as soon as the word trust passed his lips. He clenched his fists
in his lap and looked out the window. What would it take to win her trust a second time?
They were both silent during the rest of the trip, each tense about the confrontation to come. By the time they turned down the country road that led to Beaux Champs, Diana was jittery with anxiety.
“Maybe we should call the police,” she said.
“The police can’t search the estate for Felix without a warrant.”
“How long would it take to get one?”
“They’re not going to get a search warrant for us, Diana.”
“Why not?” she demanded.
He let his breath out on a long sigh. “Because the police aren’t going to disturb and publicly embarrass one of the wealthiest, oldest families in New Orleans on a special occasion like this because a psychic, a yoga teacher, and a private eye on probation all think an astrologer is being held hostage at a society girl’s birthday party.”
“Oh.” Put like that, it did sound a little hopeless. “So it’s just you and me?”
“Peter will be there.” Nick glanced at his watch and swore. “Poor guy, he’s been there since just after dawn. He must be going stir-crazy. I forgot to call him after you talked me into going to Jora’s.”
“But going to Jora’s was a good idea. Come on now, admit it.”
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “She’s gifted,” he hedged.
About one hundred yards before they reached the gates of Beaux Champs, Diana pulled her car off the road and into the shadows. They had left Peter and his car near here early this morning. She killed the engine, got out of the car, and followed Nick over to where Peter’s car sat in the dark night.
As soon as he saw them, Peter jumped out and came running toward them. “Where the hell have you been?” he demanded. “You were supposed to relieve me two hours ago!”
“Sorry, Pete. We had to go... No, you probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Nick frowned, noticing that Peter was practically hopping up and down in agitation. “What’s the matter with you?”